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NEUBAUER
Anton Neubauer was born
in the Czech Republic in 1906 and was taught instrument
making by his father in law, Franz Hirsch.
Hirsch was quite influential in some of the styling of
the early Neubauer guitars.
Anton's son Helmut
was born in Schoenbach in 1932 but the Neubauers were
driven out of the Czech Republic in 1946 working for a
while with Hoyer. In 1958 set up their own father and son
workshop at Bubenreuth where many of the expelled
Sudetenland stringed instrument makers had congregated.
The guitars made by
Anton and Helmut in that period are revered and much
respected for their style and particularly for their great
acoustic voice. Generally, acoustic
Neubauers are loud - a perfect archtop to play
live in bands or in family groups, easily heard against
violin, bass, wind and accordion (the typical music
night family get together).
Soon Neubauer earned a reputation for that rich, majestic
tone loved so much by jazz players.
Generally, these guitars
were
not dated or labelled and so it is not easy to attribute a
guitar to its maker.
In this guitar I see
several cues which make me feel it is probably made by Anton
- the shape of the headstock, the headstock decoration
with the same motif running down the neck are all Hirsch
inspired (in fact there are a few Hirsh guitars with this
pattern). It has a very Schonbach look and so
most likely signifies an early guitar. I get the
feeling it is early 50's. The very stylish
f-hole design is unusual and very attractive.
Overall this is a very classy guitar and with the deep "damson" redburst finish really looks good.
Musically, it is
superb. It has a powerful, rich, majestic voice
with a balanced tone and excellent projection.
Structurally it is sound and stable. The frets are
worn but play really nicely and look original.
The tuners have been replaced and
it has had a neck re-set at some time. The
original bridge
has been restored and fitted now.
At 70
years old, it is in very good condition.
Cosmetically, it looks fabulous from a distance but,
up close, it has more than its fair share of dings,
dongs, scratches and bruises but none of them are serious.
So, if you look closely, you see a much used guitar but before long
that majestic sound fills your senses.
It has a 17" body 3"
deep with with full scale and a chunky (pre truss-rod) D
shape neck with just has a nice relief to it. |
